2. Beebe Creek to Panther Creek (includes Ruby Creek)

Granite/Ruby is an excellent run for late in the spring snowmelt season. In many years it is runnable into July. Granite Creek, 2 miles, class III/IV(IV+) The first 2 miles of this run on Granite Creek are steep with a gradient in the neighborhood of 200 fpm and filled with nearly continuous class 3 and 4 rapids with one long class IV+ which can be scouted from the road. This run is prone to wood hazards. Scout as much as you can from the road. Ruby Creek, 3 miles, class III+ When you arrive at the confluence with Canyon Creek, which also serves as an alternate put-in for those seeking a slightly easier run, the flow doubles and the creek is renamed Ruby Creek. Ruby is really more of a river than a creek, especially as flows increase. Ruby is not as steep as Granite, but is still quite continuous with a gradient in the 100 fpm range. Ruby starts out with class II rapids and builds up momentum downstream and flows through many fun boulder gardens at low water, big wave trains, and a few big holes at high water. The rapids are mostly class III, but some near the end push class IV at higher levels, and continue right up to the take-out at the trail bridge below Panther Creek. It is important to remain alert for wood hazards. Downstream of Panther Creek the rapids look enticing but soon settle out at the slackwater of Ross Reservoir and it's a long hike back upstream. For this reason the recommended take-out is at the trail bridge at Panther Creek. See Gary Korb's river description in Bennett. LOGISTICS Granite and Ruby run alongside the scenic North Cascades Highway (Hwy 20), which is closed in winter, making this a late spring/early summer run. Coming from the west side, you'll reach the takeout first, which is at the East Bank trailhead (Hwy 20 mile 138.3). The takeout is at a footbridge, takeout on river right, cross the bridge, and carry up the trail (it's about a 1/4 mile hike with approximately 400' of elevation gain). Continuing up the highway after 2.9 miles you'll reach another large parking area at the confluence of Canyon and Granite creeks (the Canyon Creek trailhead at Hwy. 20 mile 141.2). This can be used as a put-in for running Ruby or as a take-out for doing short laps on Granite. A couple more miles up the highway at a large turnout (Hwy. 20 mile 143.1) is the put-in for Granite.